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Nutrition, explained honestly

Plain-English guides to how food grading actually works — the same six frameworks Nutrication uses to grade every scan, minus the marketing spin. No fads, no fear-mongering, no affiliate links.

How the grade works

How Nutrication grades food: the complete A–D methodology The complete Nutrication methodology: six nutrition frameworks, their exact weights, how they combine into one A–D grade, and why missing data is never guessed. 7 min read → NOVA 1-4: what food processing levels mean for your health What NOVA groups 1-4 mean, with everyday food examples, why processing level predicts health outcomes, and how Nutrication scores each group in your grade. 7 min read → Nutri-Score explained: how the A-E letters actually work How Nutri-Score turns per-100g penalties and bonuses into an A-E letter, why the system misfires on oils and drinks, and how Nutrication weighs it. 6 min read → Glycemic index vs glycemic load: why portion wins Glycemic index ignores how much you eat. Glycemic load fixes that. Here are the GL bands, everyday examples, and how Nutrication scores it for foods and full meals. 6 min read → Ingredient red flags: what the scanner looks for and why Every food starts at 20 points. Here are the exact additives, sweeteners, and preservatives that subtract from it — and the label claims that add points back. 7 min read → Fat quality: why the ratio matters more than the grams Saturated, unsaturated, and trans fat explained: why the unsaturated ratio beats total grams, how Nutrication scores it, and swaps that move the needle. 7 min read → Nutrient density: the score that rewards what food gives you Nutrient density measures micronutrients per calorie. See the six micros Nutrication tracks, how 20 points are earned, and why sparse data means 'not rated.' 7 min read →

Practical guides

Building a balanced day: what the 2,000-calorie targets mean The 2,000 kcal reference day behind Nutrication's day grade — 250g carbs, 100g protein, 70g fat, 30g fiber, plus sugar and sodium caps — and how to tune it. 7 min read → Fiber: the nutrient almost everyone under-eats Most adults eat about half the fiber they need. The ~30 g daily floor, soluble vs insoluble, how fiber steadies blood sugar, and the foods that carry you there. 7 min read → Liquid calories: why drinks don't fill you up Sodas, juice, smoothies, lattes, and alcohol slip past your appetite's accounting. The sugar in a typical pour, and why drinks get their own grading rules. 7 min read → Protein: how much you really need, and where to get it Realistic protein targets by goal, what makes a protein complete, how protein earns Nutri-Score bonus points, and why whole-food sources beat processed ones. 7 min read → How to read a nutrition label like an auditor A field guide to the US Nutrition Facts label: serving-size tricks, per-100g conversion, the %DV shortcut, added sugars, sodium — and what to check first. 7 min read → Eating out without wrecking your day: a menu-reading playbook Restaurant plates run bigger and saltier than home cooking. Learn the menu words that predict a dish's grade and how Nutrication scores scanned dishes. 7 min read → Sodium: how a day blows past 2,300 mg without a salt shaker Where hidden sodium lives, how to convert salt to sodium, why restaurant meals bust the 2,300 mg cap, and how Nutrication grades and tracks it daily. 7 min read → Added vs natural sugar: why the same grams grade differently Why an apple's 19 grams of sugar isn't a soda's 39: the ~50 g daily cap, sugar's twenty-plus label aliases, and how Nutrication grades added vs natural. 6 min read → Ultra-processed food: how to spot NOVA 4 in 5 seconds Ultra-processed food (NOVA 4) is defined by marker ingredients, not calories. Here's why UPF is so easy to overeat, how to spot it fast, and how to cut back without chasing purity. 7 min read →